The Cincinnati Reds organization has been pretty active in the off-season, particularly in Louisville. After officially announcing a new head coach as well as assistant coach for the Louisville Bats, the organization has officially announced that the Reds’ home stadium, Great American Ballpark, will be hosting it’s first ever college baseball game at the College Invitational.

This, Reds higher-ups hope, will be the first game in what will become an annual event; and this year the invitation has gone to the University of Louisville and the University of Cincinnati in a game scheduled for April 6th.

This will be a Big East matchup between two schools located in the cities most associated with the Reds. The day is actually a double header as the Reds will suit up against the Washington Nationals at 1:10; in a game which pits two of the best records from the 2012 season against each other.

This major league game will be proceeded by the Cardinals-Bearcats match-up; in another game that based on 2012 statistics should be a good one.

This news comes on the heels of the Reds Caravan’s stop at Bats’ home, Louisville Slugger Field, on January 24th. Which featured appearances by broadcaster Thom Brennaman, President of Operations Walt Jocketty, and Reds all stars Jay Bruce and Homer Bailey; both of whom were previously Bats, also in attendance was catcher Corky Miller, minor leaguer Ryan LaMarre, Franchise COO Phil Castellini and Reds legend and hall of famer, Joe Morgan.

Also there that evening was mascots Mr. Red and Mr. Redlegs; Redlegs adorned quite professionally in an amazing mustache, if I can editorialize just for a bit. Of course the native Cincinnati mascots were joined by Louisville’s own Buddy Bat.

The Reds will officially open their season against the Anaheim Angels April 1st, while the Bats take on longtime rival, Toledo Mud Hens in their season opener April 4th. Meanwhile, Louisville’s opener will come at the Big East/Big Ten Challenge, on February 15th when they square off against Indiana in Florida on February 15th. Their first regular season game at the newly expanded Jim Patterson stadium will be up to bat on February 20th against Eastern Kentucky.

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Recently, I completed a Masters degree in Education and have been writing for Louisville.com for over a year now, prior to that I published a humor book for young adults titled Wearing Socks with Sandals, a book about getting through high school, college, and all of the requisite problems that present themselves during that time. Currently, I spend much of my time in classroom settings as well as writing in various areas. Of course, I’m a big sports fan and love music and film, and love finding new stuff around Louisville.